MOVIE REVIEWS- 2007 in review: What a long, strange year it's been

There, I've got that off my chest. I don't mean you personally, of course. If you have enough taste to read this column, you're not one of the people who started 2007 by making huge hits of horrible movies (Norbit, Ghost Rider, Wild Hogs), then stayed away when the "serious" pictures started arriving in the fall.

Everything came in batches all year: great actresses (Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard) and failed "torture-porn" sequels in the spring, threequels in late spring/early summer, vigilante thrillers and Jane Austen-related romances in late summer, anti-Iraq War movies in early fall, African American holiday movies in late fall. Whatever you liked, there would surely be at least one more just like it opening soon.

The studios continue making a self-fulfilling prophecy of the idea that awards go to late-year releases by saving their potential contenders at least until September, then flooding the market with them. It's worth noting that most of my Ten Worst opened in the first half of the year, so I don't forget.

After eight months of crap, can the public really be blamed for not flocking to Reservation Road, Things We Lost in the Fire, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Lions for Lambs and Martian Child, some of which weren't very good anyway; or for confusing Dedication and Delirious, Rendition and Redacted, The Hoax and The Host, In the Valley of Elah and In the Shadow of the Moon, September Dawn and Rescue Dawn or We Own the Night and 30 Days of Night?

As disappointing as many of the films themselves were, more disappointing was when one the masses should have enjoyed (e.g., Shoot ‘em Up) got lost in the shuffle. At this writing, the boxoffice jury is still out on those year-end releases that are supposed to make the wait worthwhile. You'll see several of their titles in the "Best" list below and on many other lists of nominations and awards. But will you go to see them when they're up against sequels to Alien vs. Predator and National Treasure?

Oh, you will, but what about all those other idiots?

As usual, some of the films listed are platforming and haven't arrived here yet, or were test-marketed and sent directly to DVD.

Top Ten:

1. Atonement

2. The Kite Runner

3. There Will Be Blood

4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

5. Juno

6. No Country for Old Men

7. The Lookout

8. Michael Clayton

9. Lars and the Real Girl

10. Golden Door

Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically):

Away from Her

The Bourne Ultimatum

Charlie Wilson's War

Death at a Funeral

Hairspray

The Host

In the Valley of Elah

Knocked Up

Rocket Science

Shoot ‘em Up

Best Foreign-Language Film: The Kite Runner

Runners-up:The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Golden Door

Best Documentary Feature: Protagonist

Runners-up: The Life of Reilly, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Best Animated Film: Ratatouille

Runners-up: The Simpsons Movie, Paprika

Best Director: Joe Wright, Atonement

Runners-up: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men; Sean Penn, Into the Wild

Titles I Hated to Leave Out but They Wouldn't Quite Fit: Across the Universe, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Black Book, The Bubble, For the Bible Tells Me So, The Namesake, No End in Sight, Rescue Dawn, Rendition, Sicko, Superbad

People I Hated to Leave Out but They Wouldn't Quite Fit: George Clooney, Michael Clayton; Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart; Ben Kingsley, You Kill Me; Sidney Lumet (director), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; Laura Linney, The Nanny Diaries; James McAvoy, Atonement

Movie that Made Me Feel Best about Being a Human Being: Lars and the Real Girl